What’s Going on with the Fire HD 8 Android Tablet?

Amazon is know for loudly proclaiming the launch of its latest hardware, even when it's just a minor refresh, but recently the retailer quietly removed references to the Fire HD 8 tablet from its site.

For reasons we don't quite understand, Amazon has removed the Fire HD 8 from the menu comparison bar, and allowed the tablet to go out of stock. The tablet is still listed on the site, and you can even find it in the comparison tables for the other Fire tablet models, but depending on which product listing you check the Fire HD 8 is either completely out of stock or back-ordered until 14 September.

And while we're on the topic, the Fire HD 8 Reader tablet has been erased from the Amazon website. That tablet was launched in December 2015 and offered a tablet bundled with a case and a Kindle Unlimited subscription, but now it has completely vanished from the Amazon website (the product listing is gone).

Weird.

There's no word from Amazon on what they're doing with the Fire HD 8 tablet, which was originally released in September 2015. The latest leaks from April suggest that Amazon is going to replace last year's model with a cheaper unit with weaker cameras and a weaker CPU, but the listings still show specs for last year's model, not the new one.

Your guess is as good as mine as to what Amazon is up to here; would anyone care to speculate?

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Nate Hoffelder

Nate Hoffelder is the founder and editor of The Digital Reader. He has been blogging about indie authors since 2010 while learning new tech skills weekly. He fixes author sites, and shares what he learns on The Digital Reader's blog. In his spare time, he fosters dogs for A Forever Home, a local rescue group.

Also Fire HD 6 (4th gen) is marked down $30, the Fire HD Kids Edition (6″) by $50, and the Fire Kids Edition (7″) by $20. There is also a Fire HD 7 Kids Edition (based on HD 7 4th gen) but it is not marked down. Note that the banner has a See FIre Tablet Family link which shows everything in the current Fire lineup, including the HD 8 (‘in stock September 14’) and HDX 8.9 (only available w LTE).

If I were to guess they may be preparing a new, lower end 6″ tablet, fewer pixels and with SD slot. And a new Kids Edition based on that. Maybe it will even replace the $49 7″ tablet at that price point. No new 7/8/10 Fires? I could see that. Maybe just drop the price some.

This is not very exciting, but even Apple is having trouble making their iPads exciting.

The Good e-reader is predicting an 8-inch Liquavista device. It seems pretty far-fetched, but if they’re clearing out inventory, it looks like Amazon might finally be bringing a new 8 incher to the market. Hopefully it’s Liquavista!

I almost forgot to mention: It’s been reported that a new FCC filing from Amazon indicates that a new tablet is coming. Amazon obscured their filing by placing the new device under a shell company called Polebridge Hole. Lilliputing reported on it. Unfortunately, it’s almost certainly not Liquavista as it uses 802.11n.

AFTVNews reported that it’s probably a refresh of the 7 series of Fire tablet (they are almost certainly correct). The wireless capabilities are without question indicative of a low-end tablet. So we still have no idea what’s going on with the 8-inch Fire HD. Or the HDX line for that matter.

Considering that the HDX line launched two years ago (2015), it seems a good bet that Amazon will refresh its HDX line of devices this year. The odd disappearance of the HD 8 suggests that Amazon may simply be ridding itself of the HD 8 line, since it siphons sales away from its HDX 7 and 8.9 series. If a refresh were coming this holiday season, they would definitely be shaking their product lines up to make room.

By the way, it’s a myth that electrowetting doesn’t look as good as LCD — you’re thinking of first generation EW designs, which used a single oil layer. The most current models are 3-layer EW which possess superior color conversion, contrast ratio, and blacks compared to LCD. Only OLED has better color representation.

And this tablet could still be the 8″ Fire tablet which leaked in April; that was a cheaper model, after all.

By the way, it’s a myth that electrowetting doesn’t look as good as LCD — you’re thinking of first generation EW designs, which used a single oil layer. The most current models are 3-layer EW which possess superior color conversion, contrast ratio, and blacks compared to LCD. Only OLED has better color representation.

And how would you know that? LQ hasn’t done a demo in years, and they certainly haven’t released a commercial product.